Imitation
by Can't Blink
Summary: One-shot. Having learned that Ni hates him, San attempts to emulate the right head to earn his affections. Unfortunately, this goes terribly wrong.


Author's Note: While I proofread the first chapter of the requested smut fic, here's a short story. While San trying to mimic Ni is something that'll probably be canon, this scene in particular is something that I dunno if I wanna make canon or not, because… well… Just prepare for heartbreak.

* * *

Ni snarled, pulling away from Ichi's attempt to groom him. It was night, and they were back at the slave's volcano, getting ready for sleep. But their nightly routine was bound to meet obstacle, and Ni doesn't disappoint.

Ichi should've known this would happen. He was able to groom Ni the night before, without so much as a growl, but now Ni was even more defiant than usual. He was getting the sense of déjà vu again, that constant reminder of their younger days that's been so prevalent all day.

He shook his head. "Your face is filthy, Brother Ni."

"And I can clean it myself." his brother growled at him. Ichi narrowed his eyes at him for a moment before huffing a breath through his nose.

"Yourself? How exactly do you plan to do that?"

Ni glared at him for a moment longer, before glancing around their surroundings. Short of dipping his face into the lava, there was nothing here to wash himself. But Ni was nothing if not resourceful and he returned his glare back to the middle head. "Give me a wing."

Ichi did not like the demand, but he nonetheless humored his brother. He'd rather this didn't escalate over something so stupid. Maintaining eye-contact with him, Ni began licking the wing and using it to wipe his face before licking it again. Ichi snorted.

"You groom like a hatchling." he chided.

"Better than being groomed by a false alpha."

A tail rattled behind them but Ichi managed not to take the bait. Instead, he hissed dangerously. "Miss a spot, and I will clean it for you." It came off more as a threat than anything, and Ni growled at him. Ignoring him, Ichi turned to San, who was watching silently.

Despite his odd behavior all day, Ichi was expecting no resistance from the youngest as he started to groom his face. But to his surprise, San pulled away and started to growl softly.

"Give me a wing."

Ichi stared at him. He's been doing this all day, trying to copy whatever it was Ni was doing. The game was amusing, if a bit perplexing, but Ichi was not playing along this time.

"You are not a hatchling, Brother San. You will be cleaned properly." He goes to groom San again, who pulled away.

"I can do it myself!" he insisted. "Give me a wing, Ichi!"

Something in the middle head snapped and San couldn't help but let out a scream as his muzzle was grabbed and he was shoved into the ground. The youngest was terrified, knowing he went too far saying Ichi's name without a title. But it's what Ni would've done, right…?

Stop whimpering! Ni wouldn't be so meek! He tried to growl, rather unconvincingly and tried to wriggle, but his neck was pinned under a wing. He felt his brother let go of his snout and snarl in his ear.

"Do not dare disrespect me, Brother San. I have enough of that from Brother Ni and I will not let you do the same. Understand me?"

_Don't whimper_, San told himself. He winced as Ichi power-groomed him and snarled when he did. That's what Ni does when he's power-groomed. But he holds still; it's been so long since he's been power-groomed by Ichi. Ni does it to him all the time, but Ichi?

Of course, San was always well-behaved when it comes to knowing his place and never had to be dominated like this.

Ichi continued to power-groom him for the entire session, forcing him to roll over to get at his chin and throat. San continued to be still, trying to sound angry, although he was more frightened than anything. When it was over, Ichi nipped his snout in a final warning before letting him go. San got himself up, trying not to shrink under Ichi's glare. He glanced over at Ni, to see he wasn't even looking towards them anymore. He found himself growing desperate for his attention, mind scrambling.

"Do that again and I'll bite you!" he blurted out. He heard another rattle from their tails and kept himself from averting his eyes from Ichi's scornful leer. But the eldest doesn't lash out at him. Yet.

"I grow impatient with your pointless little game, Brother San," his alpha warns. Ichi didn't want to have to do any of this to his youngest, but at the same time, he had no choice. San will not get special treatment for his unacceptable behavior and had to be reprimanded. "I suggest you stop acting foolish and do as you are told. Now." He lifted his snout pointedly, a gesture to be groomed. To go back to their nightly routine without anymore of this nonsense. Normally San would jump at the opportunity every night, he loved grooming his brothers as much as he loved being groomed himself. But tonight, he kept himself back. He glanced again at Ni, who still didn't give him the time of day. He was ignoring him on purpose.

A soft whimper managed to escape him, and he tried to stifle it in his throat. Before he can think, he reached out to Ni's neurons.

_Brother Ni, watch me!_

He saw his older brother glance at him, the contempt in his face obvious. But San knew this was his chance to prove himself worthy of his love. The greatest possible act of emulation. But…

He looked to Ichi, who was glaring down at him with tested patience. He didn't want to do this. But he had to! He wanted Ni to love him, right? So he had to act like him and that means being mean and nasty to Ichi. Right?

He heard his own heartbeat in his ears, as he slinks closer to Ichi. He can't do this, he has to do this! It's the only way. Ni will love him for it! He can't back down! He always backed down and Ni hated him for it. Ni hated him for whimpering, for purring, for being stupid, for being himself! If he wanted that praise he's dreamed of getting for so long, then he has to be brave!

He swallowed softly, as if gulping down his fear, and gathering his strength…

He struck unexpectedly, jaws clamping onto Ichi's exposed throat. He could hear and feel the resulting shriek of startled pain. He tasted blood, their own blood, and it tasted disgusting on his tongue. He can hear their slave, now awake, shout something, but he couldn't hear what. No, his mind was elsewhere as he was suddenly thrusted hundreds of millions of years into their past, when he was still barely born. How horrified he was to engage in combat but how he would forcefully throw himself into the fray and take a bite. Well, he's taking that first bite again.

_Don't let go_, the thought raced through his head as it had done all those years ago. _Don't let go. Terrible things will happen if you let go_.

He remembered how it was Ichi that would keep the enemy from retaliating against him when he bit like this, protecting him from harm and further trauma, like the amazing brother and alpha he was. But now, it was Ichi himself on the receiving end and San felt sick.

He was betraying the only brother that loved him…

He couldn't stop the tears from welling up in his eyes as Ichi reflexively made a snap for Ni. But Ni was not the one doing this for once and the right head pulled back, snarling as he stared dumbfounded at what was happening. He knew San was being obnoxious in his poor attempt at imitating him, but he never once thought the youngest would go this far.

An impulse within him wanted to tear San off of Ichi, those loyal instincts that became habit over millions of years as Ichi's second-in-command. He felt Ichi tear control of their right wing back and the eldest brother snarled as he went to tear San off. The little one bit harder, trying to copy Ni's signature shake. Another poor imitation, as the action was lacking the true raw bloodlust behind it.

The impulse, the habit, was too strong to break, even now when he hated Ichi with every fiber of his being. He lunged and bit into San's scales, driving his fangs deep into flesh.

From that moment, there was no stopping him. He gave San a true taste of his technique and shook viciously, tearing into the scales savagely beneath his teeth. San screamed and in doing so, released his grip on Ichi. Ni does not let up, slamming San into the ground. San flailed desperately, tears falling down his cheeks as he screamed.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! HEEELP!"

But Ni doesn't relent and Ichi does nothing to help the youngest. The eldest just glared at him, the bite wounds on his throat stitching back together, leaving only the blood trailing down his neck as the only evidence of the attack. Their slave does make a move to get out of the lava, but Ichi caught sight of him and hissed firmly. There were no words from him, but his eyes communicated enough to the bird.

Interfere and he will share the punishment.

Rodan hesitated, staring at the alpha, his alpha, and his eyes went back to San and Ni. He clearly wanted to help, but knew better than to defy Ichi's orders. He had to recognize that this conflict was between the brothers and them alone.

Knowing he wasn't going to be rescued, San felt himself break even more. Now Ichi hated him too, he knows it. San has done many terrible things in his life. He loved torturing other creatures and laughing at their suffering. But this, this was the worst thing he's ever done. And he had nobody to blame but himself.

He kept struggling though, crying and screaming pleas for mercy as Ni dragged him along the ground, before smashing his face into the rock floor.

"I'm sorr-" He's cut off as Ni shoved him to expose his throat and bit into it without inhibition, tearing into him. His wounds heal quick from the volcano but the pain was not to be ignored. This pain was made worse as Ni threw him mercilessly into the ground, glaring down at him with bloodied jaws. His voice came out dripping with scornful hatred.

"You want to copy me so badly? Then take your punishment with some damn dignity, you little shit."

San continued to cry, his brother's words breaking him further. But in doing so, it ignited a rare emotion in the youngest. Frustration and true anger. He glared at his attacker with tearful eyes. "I don't wanna be like you anymore!" he snapped. "You're terrible! You're a horrible brother! Hurting Brother Ichi is the worst thing ever, and you're a monster for doing it so much! How can you…" The rest of his words become incoherent gibberish as his voice snagged in his distress. He was shivering heavily, almost choking on his tears.

Ni's snarls grew louder, and he tore at San's scales again, San limp and no longer struggling before he's dropped back onto the ground. Still crying. But his older brother had no remorse. "When I attack Ichi, I do so with good reason. But you're too much of an idiot to know that, aren't you? What reason did you have?"

San hiccuped, feeling his tears join the blood dripping from his mouth. His voice was shaking as much as he was. "I just… just want you to love me…" He sniffled. "I-I thought if I was like you, then… All I ever wanted was for you to be proud of me… But… But you never will. Nothing I do will get you to… to love m-me. I can't do it anymore…" He buried his face into the ground, still shaking. "Why don't you love me…? I do my best, but why…?"

The silence that came was broken only by the sound of his crying, and the bubbling of the lava. Ni's snarls have grown quiet as he stared at his crying subordinate. There was something unpleasant inside of him, seeing the youngest break down like this. He was used to seeing San's fear and hearing his screams, but this level of distress was new. And those words...

San was finally miserable, just like he wanted. But then why did it feel wrong? That unpleasant feeling, was it…

Pity…?

Weakness.

San was making him feel weakness, as if he didn't have enough of that already. His automatic response of anger increased tenfold and his glare radiated pure hateful venom to cover it all up. He would bury that stupid unpleasant feeling not with fangs, but with cruel words.

"Because you're _worthless_."

The world just seemed to shatter around little San, leaving him in a cold dark abyss, far more desolate than even the void of space they called home.

"That's enough, Brother Ni," Ichi finally spoke up, his voice sounding distant to San's ears. Ni gave a snort, glaring up at Ichi.

"The little brat has been disrespecting me all damn day. He has it co-"

"Brother San has been punished enough," Ichi interrupted firmly, meeting his glare with his own. "And I think I speak for all of us when I say we have all had enough. Now finish cleaning yourself up and we are going to sleep." His tone showed there would be no arguing with his words and Ni growled louder before glaring at the shivering bundle beneath him. With a huff, he backed off and was given the wing back to clean his bloodied muzzle.

San sniffled as he pulled his face from the ground and looked up at his brothers. Ni was back to ignoring him and, although Ichi has spared him further injury, he still glared down at him with angry disapproval. The youngest sibling's heart shattered even more, and his voice cracked from his tears.

"I'm sorry, Brother Ichi…" he apologized pathetically. "I'm sorry…"

But Ichi's expression doesn't soften and he spoke in a toneless voice. "That wing you wanted. Clean yourself up with it." Ichi said nothing more as he began licking his own neck to clear off the blood. San doesn't move, closing his eyes as more tears escaped him. He's thoroughly convinced that Ichi now hated him too. _Both_ his brothers hated him. And without their love, what else did he have?

He doesn't care to notice the sound of something shuffling closer to him and he felt a warmth against his scales, nibbling his face in a gentle groom.

He can tell from the scent it was their slave.

"Leave him," he heard Ichi demand the bird. "He wanted to clean himself and he will. Instead, make yourself useful here." He lifted his snout up pointedly, repeating the signal to be groomed. Their slave wouldn't understand the gesture itself, but knew enough to understand the context of what was desired of him.

Looking back at San uncertainly, Rodan stepped over him carefully, still limping, and began grooming Ichi's throat, trying to get the blood off of him.

San still doesn't move, having no intention of cleaning himself up. Instead, he placed the shaky wing over himself as if to shield his shame and heartbreak from the world.

He spent the rest of the night sobbing.


End file.
